


Field Notes

by SalParadiseLost



Series: The Demon in the Details [8]
Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Demons, And Snippets, Demon Damian Wayne, Demon Jason Todd, Demon Tim Drake, Demons, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Human Bruce Wayne, Human Dick Grayson, Hurt/Comfort, Pack Dynamics, Packs, Tumblr Prompts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-20
Updated: 2021-03-26
Packaged: 2021-03-29 01:08:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30148437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SalParadiseLost/pseuds/SalParadiseLost
Summary: A collection of snippets, drabbles, and small entries in my demon au.
Relationships: Tim Drake & Dick Grayson & Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne & Damian Wayne
Series: The Demon in the Details [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2151114
Comments: 82
Kudos: 313





	1. Bruce's Demonomicon: Incubus

**Author's Note:**

> This fic will be a collection of some of the writings on my tumblr. 
> 
> Specific tags for each fic will in the header. 
> 
> \-----
> 
> Warnings: Implied Demon Abuse, Implied Medical Experimentation

Entry 1: Incubus

_Incubus (n.) - the male variant of the Asmodi class of demons that resembles a human in order to feed off human emotions, particularly those sexual in nature. They can manipulate emotions and are well known for being promiscuous._

_Female Variant: Succubus. Plural Form: Incubi_

_Conservation Status: Common - Least Concern_

_Synonyms: Sex Demon. Nightmare (archaic)._

* * *

It’s come to my attention that the previous research done on incubi is extremely incorrect.  
  
No matter which source I look at, almost every piece of scientific literature equates ‘incubi’ to be a term used interchangeably with ‘sex demon’ and yet shows no evidence for this finding. Many scientists seem to believe that a need for sex is part of their biology…  
  
(Jason is thirteen. Of course, he doesn’t want to have sex. He’s still a child.)  
  
I have constantly been told they are only 'sex demons' and yet as I look through the research, I cannot find proof of this. There is no scientific evidence that incubi are any more promiscuous than another species of demon. There’s some evidence that incubi young are conditioned to be that way by society…  
  
I don’t like this finding.  
  
In addition to notes about sexual habits, some studies have been done on incubi’s relationship to pain and their capability of getting immense pleasure from inflicting it. Almost all studies focus on the person receiving the pain. Only three even mention the incubus’ state after causing such torture.  
  
One study done forty years ago, starved incubi and succubi to force them to do this. They drafted demons from prisons and juvenile delinquent centers across the country and brought them into the lab without their consent. The human subjects were gathered on a volunteer basis and put up in a hotel with consistent meals and medical attention.  
  
The demons were put in solitary confinement for a month until they were near feral and mad from hunger and solitude. Then, they were forced to inflict pain on human subjects, even though many of the demons tried to resist the treatment.  
  
What kind of results did these scientists expect to get?  
  
The study doesn’t say what happened to the demons after the experiment. To this day, it’s still held as one of the cornerstone studies for the feeding habits of the Asmodi class of demons.  
  
I don’t understand how no one saw how cruel this study was.  
  
Ignoring the “science” that this study purports to find, almost no additional studies mention incubi’s alternative feeding habits (i.e. mentioning how incubi can feed on emotions not connected to pain or sex).  
  
This what I find to be most baffling. Have any of them met an incubus? Jason talks about emotions all the time when he’s with me. Surely if anyone had spent even a little bit of time with one they would have figured this out…  
  
Only a couple of weeks with Jason let me know how much I was wrong on. I’ve been trying to re-educate myself ever since.  
  
It’s hard though when so much of the world seems to have everything about incubi and succubi wrong.  
  
—–  
Bruce Wayne – Personal Files – (see Demons.etx) (see Jason Todd.etx)  
[End of Notes]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More entries to come. Bruce's notes on demon species will continue.
> 
> Everything in this story is first posted on my tumblr, so go there for first peeks on everything I have written. I'll be posting things here if it's a drabble that I think can stand on its own, but I don't feel like developing into a full story. 
> 
> \-----
> 
> You can visit my tumblr at [ SalParadiseLost ](https://salparadiselost.tumblr.com) where I post tumblr things and general writing musings. I post drabbles, alternate scenes and cut scenes there. I also answer questions about this au, and who knows maybe you can have me write a snippet. 
> 
> Please leave a kudos and comment. Flattery gets you everywhere.


	2. Bruce's Demonomicon: Levistus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Entry 24: Levistus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little fairy tale :)
> 
> \-----
> 
> Warnings: Implied Demon Abuse, Implied Demon Death

Entry 24: Levistus

_Levistus (n.) – a demon of wrath that is said to be the harbinger of storms and tragedy. In legends, these demons were symbols of bad luck or coming doom and most of this species was hunted to extinction because of this belief.  
  
Plural Form: Levisti _

_Status: Critically Endangered – Probably Extinct_

_Synonyms: Wrath Demon. Leviathan (archaic)._

* * *

A Levistus is probably the demon species that haunts the nightmares of humans the most. Creatures of myths, more than reality, Levistus have been hunted to near extinction and stalk the pages of storybooks more than their native homeland of Eastern Europe. They are said to be the deadliest of all demons, a single member of the species capable of wiping out villages in retribution for a slight against them.

At least, that’s what is said about them. If my research into demons has taught me anything, it is that the assumptions made about them are more than often wrong.

I have no way to confirm or deny this, however, as no one has reported seeing a Levistus within the last 50 years, and even that time was a corpse.

The stigma against Levisti is probably the longest and more deeply entrenched, mostly because they are said to be the most powerful of the modern demon species. (There is archaeological evidence of more formidable ancient species. See: the Satanics Class.etx See: Ancient Species.etx) Human fear is a poisonously powerful force and the fear for this species of demons is written into almost every legend of the European, Asian, and Middle Eastern cultures.

The most famous of these legends is “Kveta and the Demon”, I even remember seeing picture books depicting this tale.

It starts with a poor couple wishing for children and then finding two babies when they go to the river to wash clothes. One is a beautiful little girl, Kveta. The other is a Levistus impling. The couple knows that they should kill the impling, but they decide to raise him as if he is human and hide his true nature. They cut his tail, pull his fangs, and file off his horns. It is a painful process, but he’s too young to remember it.

He grows up believing that he’s human and a twin to Kveta.

The brother and sister become young adults and it is harder and harder for the parents to hide the Levistus’ true nature from him. Kveta is able to live her life and the demon is kept at home unable to so much as go to the village alone.

One day, their village is attacked by bandits who begin to burn down the houses of anyone who can’t pay them enough money. Kveta and her family are very poor and cannot pay, so the bandits go to burn down her house. She is crying because her brother is inside the house and about to be burned alive. But then, the flames turn into the blue flames of a Levistus, and her brother emerged looking like a demon. He is snarling, terrifying, and kills the bandits that attacked their village without a blink.

Kveta is horrified by the blood her brother has shed, and she sees evil in his eyes. She knows he’s a Levistus. She knows that he is lost to his emotions and unable to control himself. She thinks he will kill the whole village. So she calls him towards with a lullaby, a song that sang them both to sleep, and he comes despite the demonic thrall that he’s in.

She opens her arms for a hug, and he falls into it. He trusts her. He loves her. He’s scared, nearly burned alive only moments before.

Then, as she’s hugging him, she slits his throat.

She sings the lullaby again as he dies in her arms and the flowers on the surrounding hills turn red in order to honour her sacrifice.

 _Her_ sacrifice.

Never the demon’s, if you could even call what happened to him a sacrifice.

Some tales change the details. Sometimes the babies were given to the couple by another demon. Sometimes Kveta knows her brother’s species and keeps the secret with her parents. Sometimes the parents die early on and it’s just Kveta and her brother.

Details change, but the ending is always the same. Her brother finds out he’s a demon and then is swiftly killed by his sister because of it.

It’s supposed to be a story about sacrifice. About teaching kids to put aside their own desires for the good of others. About doing what is right even if it hurts you.

But they never talk about who it hurt the most. Who had to die because of some kind of twisted, self-righteous logic.

What had the boy felt when his sister held a knife to his throat with a smile on her face? He had grown up with her. He _loved_ her. He thought he was safe with family.

He must have been terrified. He didn’t know he was a demon and all of a sudden he was being killed because he was one.

It sickens me. I can hardly think about it too long because I start thinking about my boys as that unnamed demon. Would it be Tim who grew up with a similar background? Or maybe Jason and Damian who both are prone to outbursts?

Would that mean Dick would be the one holding the knife?

Dick would never do that. He would sooner kill himself than let his brothers come to harm.

But it worries me because there are thousands of kids that take this story for what it is on its face.

I did. I remember it. I remember the picture book with the lovely illustrations and how noble Kveta’s sacrifice seemed. I remember the Disney movie.

The details are changed to make it more palatable, but it’s like I said before, the ending is always the same.

It scares me to think about how the ending is always the same.

\---

Bruce Wayne – Personal Files – (see Demons.etx) (see Levistus.etx)

Mentioned: (Satanics.etx) (Ancient Species.etx)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another quick entry into the demonomicon series. I like that I get to use these to explore demon species that might not show up in my other stories! It's a fun way to create lore and play with a different style. I hope you liked it and the little fairy tale I made for it.
> 
> \-----
> 
> You can visit my tumblr at [ SalParadiseLost ](https://salparadiselost.tumblr.com) where I post tumblr things and general writing musings. I post drabbles, alternate scenes and cut scenes there. I also answer questions about this au, and who knows maybe you can have me write a snippet. 
> 
> Please leave a kudos and comment. Flattery gets you everywhere.


	3. Dr. Dickinson John Grayson’s Demon Discovery Programme

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The ninth episode of Dr. Dickinson's Demon Discovery Programme

“Hello, loyal viewers. Thank you for tuning into the ninth pulse-pounding episode of ‘Dr. Dickinson’s Demon Discovery Programme’. I am your illustrious host, Dr. Grayson MD and Ph.D. of Harvard. Today, we continue our ongoing investigation into today’s most important question: are demons just large cats?

Let us go and see if we can gather additional research into this question,” said Dick as he smiled brightly into the camera. He had stolen it from Tim about a month ago and the incubus had yet to find out it was him. Mostly because he suspected Damian and was pursuing that line of allegations.

Dick panned the camera around the Manor. It was late afternoon on a Saturday and the windows were letting in soft light. Everything was calm and caught within the overwhelming atmosphere of “naptime”. All the other occupants of the house were sleeping (except Alfred who took the afternoon to shop in the city and get some time for himself) and recovering from late-night patrols. Dick had been sleeping earlier himself, but he usually was the first one awake from the typical mid-day siestas.

Which meant he had to find some way to entertain himself until the rest of the house stirred.

“Now as my loyal viewers know, I have spent most of my life integrating myself into this specific demon pack. They see me as one of their own and accept me as if I am a demon myself.”

Dick climbed up the stairs and directed himself to the Manor’s family wing. All the doors to everyone’s rooms were closed. He looked at the three rooms he knew were occupied and mentally ‘eeny-meeny-miny-moed’ to choose a door.

He went to his randomly chosen door and placed a hand on the doorknob. He returned to talking to the camera in his best David Attenborough impression. “This is the private den of the second eldest demon packmember. He is of the incubus variety and there are some who call him… Tim.” Dick paused for dramatics and good filmmaking.

“Now, Tim is young by demon standards and commonly referred to as an impling by the Heart of his pack. When I show him to you viewer, I’m sure you will also come to the conclusion that he is, in fact, baby. And, perhaps, a cat if our research goes well.

Before I enter the den, I must warn you not to approach unfamiliar wild demons in your own research. I am a trained professional. I have spent the majority of my life studying demon behaviourisms and getting to know the individuals within this particular pack.

With safety measures out of the way, we can further our research. Let us commence.”

Dick opened the door silently and crept into Tim’s messy room. The space was dim, cool and Dick could instantly feel the relaxing swirl of sleepy incubus emotions. The only part of Tim that was visible was a puff of Tim’s hair sticking out of a blanket burrito.

He mumbled as Dick walked in, curling further into the blankets.

“Watch as I approach the demon.”

Dick focused his video camera on to Tim, zooming in on the tiny sliver of Tim’s face before zooming out again. He crept forward trying to remain silent, but it was hard to sneak up on a Bat.

Tim sleepily blinked his eyes open, trilling when he saw Dick. The little ‘mrrp’ made Dick’s heart warm and he didn’t hesitate to slip into Tim’s bed. With gentle hands, he unraveled the demon from his blanket burrito and gathered him in a one-armed hug while the other one balanced the camera. The demon began purring instantly and trilled happily again when Dick pulled him close.

“Hey Dick,” Tim said, voice rough and still half-asleep. “Why you got a camera?”

Dick laughed and pet Tim’s hair gently. He felt the incubus tug at their bond and instinctually begin to amplify the warm and comfortable emotions around them. Tim didn’t usually act so much like an incubus. He had a bad habit of getting in his own head about these things and overthinking what he naturally wanted to do. Tim was so sleepy now; he probably didn’t even realise what he was doing.

“I’m conducting research,” Dick whispered, even though he wasn’t even sure whether Tim was listening. The demon was still mostly asleep and seemed keener on cuddling and purring than thinking about cameras.

“Wha’ kinda research?” Tim’s voice was slurring together with slumber.

“If you’re actually a cat.” Dick was having a hard time keeping the camera straight as Tim nuzzled along the bottom of his jaw. His hair tickled against Dick’s face, but there was no way in Hell Dick was going to pull back.

Tim squinted his eyes and frowned. Dick had to hold back a coo at the adorableness of Tim pouting into nothing.

“I’m not a cat. Imma Tim,” the demon declared as seriously as his sleepy state would let him.

He sighed, seemed to finish his bout of nuzzling, and settled his head on Dick’s chest like it was a pillow. Tim’s purrs didn’t stop though, and Dick felt the vibrations shaking in his own chest.

“That’s right, smartypants. You’re a Tim.”

The demon smiled in satisfaction like he had won an intense argument. He looked like he might say something else, but then he fell asleep while still being half on top of Dick. With the demon curled on top of him, Dick knew that he was effectively trapped until Tim woke up again.

Dick chuckled softly petting over Tim’s silky hair soothing him further into sleep. Once he was sure Tim was sleeping, Dick smiled and held the camera up over his head pointing at him and the slumbering demon.

“Well, it seems that our research will have to come to an end because, as you can see, a demon has fallen asleep on top of me and I am legally not allowed to move. This, of course, only adds to our theory that demons are actually just large, dangerous, hellspawn cats.

Thank you for joining me on this episode of Dr. Dickinson’s Demon Discovery Programme. Give me a like and hit that subscribe button for more content like this. You can get visit my merch store at the link below and I hope to see you next time. Goodbye!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this as a response to an anon's comment about demons being cats. It made me laugh and I love sleepy snuggles so this was born.
> 
> \-----
> 
> You can visit my tumblr at [ SalParadiseLost ](https://salparadiselost.tumblr.com) where I post tumblr things and general writing musings. I post drabbles, alternate scenes and cut scenes there. I also answer questions about this au, and who knows maybe you can have me write a snippet also.
> 
> Please leave a kudos and comment. Flattery gets you everywhere.


End file.
